GRADUATE COURSE OFFERINGS 2026-2027
**all topics courses can be repeated for credit
Fall 2026
REL 200A- Historical Roots of the Study of Religion- Lynna Dhanani- Wednesdays, 2:00-5:00, Sproul 922
In this graduate seminar, we examine how "religion" emerges as distinct category of analysis and understanding by looking at its relationship with the intertwined categories of alchemy, medicine, and science from premodernity through the Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, and modern period. Drawing on primary sources-including theological, alchemical, yogic, scientific, medical, and theosophical texts-from European, Islamic, and Indian contexts, we trace the shifting boundaries and epistemologies between religion, science, and medicine as we explore views of the material world, body, and self in these texts and contexts.
REL 230D- Thematic Topics: Theory & Method-Hagiography Layne Little - Mondays 2:10-5:00, Sproul 922
This in-depth study of narrative traditions surrounding saints begins with an examination of exemplary hagiographic texts from a variety of major religious traditions. This will be followed by a carefully curated series of readings on Asian saints who challenge our usual assumptions of what might constitute saintliness. In addition to primary hagiographic accounts, this class will also survey methodological approaches to analyzing sacred narratives. It will offer a comprehensive survey of theories on the structure of myth, how to identify and classify folkloric motifs and how to find examples of a particular motif in other storytelling contexts for comparative purposes. In addition, it will also examine forms of hagiographic exegesis, and the role of saints in ritual, material and visual culture.